Hollinger Corp. 
pH8.5 



633 Congress,) SENATE. j Document 

U53 Session, j 1 No. 410 



opy 



^ 3l£|a of c^A 



Y'i c L^ I t u r 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 



LETTER 

FROM 

THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, 

TRANSMITTING 

IN RESPONSE TO A SENATE RESOLUTION OF JANUARY 26, 1921, 
A STATEMENT ON THE FERTILIZER SITUATION IN THE UNITED 
STATES. 



February 14 (calendar day, February 19), 1921. — Ordered to lie on the talde and 

to be printed. 



Department of Ageicultuee, 

Washington, Fehruary 17, 1921. 
The President of the Senate: 

In compliance with Senate resolution 435, which reads as follows: 

Resolved, That the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to 
ascertain as nearly as possible, and to report to the Senate as soon as practicable, the 
following: The amount of commercial potash, nitrogen, and phosphoric acid available 
for fertilizer purposes, and the price of each of these articles as compared with the 
prices for 1913, as shown by data in the office or that can be secured without material 
expense; and to furnish any suggestions as to relieving the situation in case the amount 
of any or all of these is insufficient or the price prohibitive, and to report what inves- 
tigations were made and with what results, mentioned in Senate Document 262, 
Sixty-fourth Congress, first session — 

I have the honor to transmit herewith a statement on the fertilizer 
situation, prepared by Prof. Milton Whitney, Chief of the Bureau of 
Soils, who has charge of the fertilizer work of the department. 
Very truly ^ yours, 

E. T. Meredith, Secretary. 

STATEMENT OF THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 

Prepared by the Chief of the Bureau of Soils, United States Department of Agriculture . 

INTRODUCTION. 

The conditions in the fertilizer trade during the calendar year 1920 
have undergone the same changes that have occurred in most other 
industries. It has been very difficult to follow the changing condi- 



2 THE FERTILIZER SITUATIOIST. 

tions and exceedingly difficult to foresee what the changes would be 
and when the changes could be expected. This statement holds 
true in regard to all three of the fertilizer elements, nitrogen, phos- 
phoric acid, and potash, as well as to the credit situation and the 
buying power. 

The 3^ear opened with an apparent shortage of acid phosphate on 
account of the strike in the Florida phosphate fields in 1919 and the 
car shortage which prevailed for several months. At the same time 
there was anticipated a large foreign demand for rock phosphate at 
high prices. There was a large foreign demand for ammonium sul- 
phate at high prices, and with the strike in the coal fields there was 
some question of the sufficiency of the supply of this commodity for 
domestic needs. The potash situation was uncertain, as the German 
interests in the Stassfurt mines and the French in the Alsatian mines 
had failed to reach a satisfactory agreement with American buyers, 
while domestic production of potash had been largely abandoned be- 
cause of the fear of foreign competition. It was reported also that the 
Chilean Nitrate Syndicate had agreed on prices for spring deliveries 
equivalent to $4.30 a hundred pounds at domestic ports, which caused 
dissatisfaction in this country, and particularly in England, France, 
and other European countries, for the equivalent prices announced 
for those countries. There was a large and insistent demand for the 
organic ammoniates for feeding purposes, and there was always the 
fear of a continuance of the delay in deliveries on account of car 
shortage. 

These factors all combined to make the fertilizer outlook exceed- 
ingly uncertain, as there seemed at that time no relief from the pre- 
vailing high prices of fertilizer materials and no immediate evidence 
of an ability to develop larger stocks. As a rule the larger fertilizer 
manufacturers make their contracts for delivery some time, often 
months, before the actual factory operation begins. When the 
prices were promulgated by the manufacturers for the spring season 
of 1920 in November, 1919, the larger manufacturers had made 
arrangements for the bulk of their materials which were used in the 
spring trade of 1920. In May, 1920, when the question of the prices 
for fall fertilizers was taken up, there was still no evidence of relief, 
as the conditions outlined above had not materially changed. It 
was evident by this time, however, that the Chilean nitrate syndicate 
could not maintain their schedule of prices, as the European demand 
had fallen and the stocks in this country were too large. It was 
also known that the export demand for ammonium sulphate had 
broken and a large amount of these stocks held for export or that 
had actually been exported were turned back for resale in this country 
after the American manufacturers had entered into contracts for 
much of their requirements. In March, 1920, ammonium sulphate 
in double bags for export was quoted in New York at around $7 to 
$7.50 per hundred pounds. The contracts with the American manu- 
facturers made about this time were approximately $4.60 per hundred 
pounds. Around the 1st of September the price of cotton seed in 
Texas dropped from $80 and $90 to $25 a ton. This was followed 
by a corresponding drop in the price of cotton seed in the eastern 
mills and by a drop of something over 50 per cent in the price of 

cottonseed meal. ^, ;.-.Ma.«i«v-^rtri^y:r:r,ttr^rr:::::::rrtrsS 

LIBRARY .©P g©NiHti5.S§ 

Am 21921 



.U55 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 



This sensational drop in the prices of cotton seed and cottonseed 
meal was followed by a corresponding drop in the prices of tankage, 
dried blood, and fish scrap, due in part to a lessening demand for 
feed stuffs, by the decrease in the number of cattle since the first of 
the year, the fall in the prices of cattle and hogs, the enormous crop 
of corn, and the excellence and lateness of fall pasturage. There was 
a lack of buying power of the feeders and a lack of buying power of 
the fertilizer manufacturers, who had contracted for their supply 
before the drop came and who were confronted with a lack of buying 
power of farmers for fertilizers. 

When the fertilizer manufacturers took stock and figured their 
prices in October for the spring season of 1921, they found that the 
prices of the fertilizer materials had begun to break, that there was 
a marked decline in buying power on the part of the farmers because 
farm prices had broken severely, and that their credit sales for the 
spring of 1920, which became payable between October and Decem- 
ber, were not being met. 

This department evidently foresaw and followed these changes 
earlier and more accurately than the fertilizer manufacturers and has 
used its utmost endeavor to get the fertilizer manufacturers to meet 
the situation, stabilize prices, stimulate buying, and restore the con- 
fidence of the farmers by necessary price concessions. The fertilizer 
manufacturers did not meet the department's view and on December 
10 the department issued a statement of the fertilizer situation, a 
copy of which is appended herewith. Since this statement of Decem- 
ber 10 was issued the prices of fertilizer materials have still further 
receded, including the ammoniates, acid phosphate, and potash. 

The fertilizer statistics for 1920 have not yet been compiled. In 
a general way it may be said that the spring sales were unusually 
large. The fall sales, on the other hand, were hardly more than 50 
or 60 per cent of normal. It may be fairly said that the sales of 
fertilizers in 1920, when finally compiled, will show somewhere around 
7,000,000 tons. 

On account of the situation as above described, the fertilizer sea- 
son of the spring of 1921 is at least three months late. The manu- 
facturers have not yet established a permanent price basis, and, while 
they are trying to sell at the highest possible prices, there is a great 
deal of reselling, and there are heavy cuts when large quantities are 
ordered for cash. So the market now is largely a resale and a com- 
petitive market for such prices and such terms as can be obtained, 
with very wide variations in prices for the same material and with 
the buying power subnormal. 

It can readily be seen that estimates with regard to stocks have 
varied from time to time during the year. At certain periods the 
stocks of acid phosphate, potash", and the ammoniates were actually 
short of the requirements of normal trade, but under the abnormal 
conditions that have developed in the latter part of the year stocks 
that once seemed inadequate have now developed into a surplus. 

The Senate resolution asks for information under four principal 
heads: (1) The amount of commercial potash, nitrogen, and phos- 
phoric acid available for fertilizer purposes, (2) the prices of each in 
1920 as compared with 1913, (3) suggestions as to the rehef if the 
amount is insufficient or the price is prohibitive, (4) a report on 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 



investigations made and results obtained since the publication of 
Senate Document 262, Sixty-fourth Congress, first session, January 
26, 1916, These questions will be discussed in order. 

I. AMOUNT OF COMMERCIAL POTASH, NITROGEN, AND PHOSPHORIC 
ACID AVAILABLE FOR FERTILIZER PURPOSES. 

Potash. — The following table, based on information obtained from 
the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, shows the amount 
of potash salts imported into the United States in 1920: 

Imports of potash for 12 months ending Dec. 31, 1920. 
[In long tons of 2,240 pounds.] 



Country exported from. 


Kainit. 


Manure 
salts. 


Muriate. 


Sulphate. 




Tons. 
157, 209 
125, 219 
73, 702 
15, 765 


Tons. 

196, 335 

50, 555 

47, 504 

20, 621 

1,083 

108 

2 

1,713 


Tons. 
78, 643 
14, 189 
14, 343 
4, 602 
5, 335 
2,920 
1,065 
505 


Tons. 
8, 895. 


France 




Belgium - 


839' 


Netnerlands 




England 


1,21S 






2, 857 


Scotland 


1,507 


30 




1,360 








Total 


373, 402 


317, 901 


121, 602 


15, 19* 





Using the ordinary trade figures and assuming that kainit carries 
12 per cent of actual potash (K^O), m.anure salts 20 per cent, and 
muriate and sulphate each 50 per cent of KjO, the following table 
shows the estimated amount of actual potash imported into the 
United States in 1920 with the percentage of importation for each 
country named. The figures are given in long tons of 2,240 pounds, 
while domestic sales of potash material are made on the basis of the 
short ton of 2,000 pounds. The total importation of actual potash of 
176,792 long tons is equivalent to 198,000 short tons.^ 

Im.ports of potash for 12 months ending Dec. 31, 1920. 
[In terms of long tons of 2,240 pounds.] 



Country exported from. 


Kainit 
K2O. 


Manure 
salts 
K2O. 


Muriate 
K2O. 


Sulphate 
K2O. 


Total 
K2O. 


Per cent 

k:20. 


G ermany 


Tons. 
18, 865 
15, 026 
8,844 
1,891 


Tons. 
39, 267 
10, 111 
9,501 
4,124 
213 
22 


Tons. 

39, 321 

7,095 

7,171 

2,301 

2,668 

1,460 

537 

253 


Tons. 
4,448 


Tons. 

101, 901 

32, 232 

25, 935 

8, 316 

3,487 

2,911 

733 

1,277 


57.6 
18.2. 


France 


Belgium 


419 


Netlierlauds 


4.7 
2.0 
1.6 

.4 


England 


606 

1,429 

15 

681 


Canada 




Scotland 


181 


Other countries 


343 








Total 


44, 807 


63, 581 


60,806 


7,598 


176, 792 









While the statistics of the production of American potash in 1920 
have not yet been entirely compiled, it is beheved that this produc- 
tion has been approximately 40,000 tons of K,0. There have also 
been imported approximately 2,900 tons of actual potash (K,0) in 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 5 

the form of nitrate of potash. In 1913 this figure was 825 tons, 
none of which was used for fertihzer purposes. If we allow 900 
tons of potash in the form of nitrate of potash for other than fer- 
tilizer uses in- 1920, it would leave approximately 2,000 tons of 
potash in the form of nitrate available for fertilizer purposes in 1920. 
The 198,000 short tons of French and German origin, the 2,000 tons 
-derived principally from Chile in the form of nitrate of potash, and 
the 40,000 tons of American production make a total of 240,000 
short tons of actual potash (K2O) which have been available in this 
country for fertilizer purposes, through production and importation 
during the year 1920. 

The total imports of potash salts in 1913, as given by the Bureau 
of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, are as follows: 

Long tons. 

Kainit ' 466, 795 

Manure salts 171, 802 

Muriate 201, 220 

Sulphate '. 42, 745 

Reducing this in the same way as above, the total imports of actual 
potash (K2O) in 1913 was 237,437 short tons. There was no domestic 
potash produced and no nitrate of potash imported for fertilizer 
purposes in that year. 

It would appear, therefore, that the total amount of actual potash 
imported or produced in the United States in 1920 was approximately 
the same as in 1913, the actual figures being 240,000 tons in 1920 and 
237,437 tons in 1913. 

In 1920 potash was not used as freely as in 1913 on account of the 
imcertainty of delivery. This countrj'^ had accustomed itself during 
the war period to expect fertilizers with a lower percentage of potash 
and had not been able to obtain potash salts for straight application 
to the soil. The uncertainty during the present time has tended to 
restrain the free selling of potasli salts and it is believed that the 
present stocks in warehouses are larger than have heretofore existed. 
On account of the present subnormal buying power it seems evident 
that large stocks of potash salts at present in this country will be 
carried over beyond the soring season of 1921. 

Nitrogen. — Specific mformation as to the stock of nitrate of soda 
now on hand in this countrv is not available because this department 
was without funds ^ to gather such data. According to the reports 
of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce there were im- 
ported in 1913 a total of 659,600 short tons of nitrate of soda. In 1920 
there were imported 1,480,503 short tons of nitrate of soda, besides 
a relatively small amount of nitrate of potash. The inforn.iation in 
the possession of the Deoartment of Agriculture is that in view of the 
subnormal buying power for the spring season of 1921 the stocks 
at -present on hand are sufficient for deliveries and contracts for the 
entire year of 1921. The imports are still contmuing, those for 
Novem-ber, 1920, amounting to 88,519 long tons and for December, 
76,866 long tons. 

1 This denartment has authority to gather such data under the Lever A ct of August 10, 1917, and the 
President's proclamation and regulations issued thereimder February 25, 1918, and actually collected such 
statistics for the years 1917 and 1918 out of an emergency war fund made avilable for this use. In 1919 and 
1920 no specific ar)«ropriation was available for fertilizer control work wliich was carried on by the Chief 
of the Bureau of Soils without funds for factory or field investigations and without money to hire experts 
or clerks to gather statistics and tabulate results. 



6 THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 

The figures for the actual domestic production of sulphate of 
ammonia are not yet available, but it is estimated that about 490,000 
tons were produced. There were less than 2,000 tons imported and 
there were exported between May 1 and November, -30, 52,736 long 
tons, figures for the remaining m.onths of the year not being available 
to this department. It is estimated that there are about 50,000 tons 
at present in the hands of the producers and about an equal amount 
of contract material in the hands of the fertilizer manufacturers. 
There would appear to be a considerable amount in storage and a con- 
siderable amount of resale material in the country of which no defi- 
nite estimate can be made. 

The domestic consumption of sulphate of ammonia including that 
produced in this country and imported in 1913 is given as 260,775 
short tons. Since then the annual consumption has increased until 
1918, when 484,875 tons were consumed. The domestic consumption 
in 1919 was 285,319 short tons, besides an export of 140,000 tons. 

The best information obtainable by this department as to the fish- 
scrap industry indicates a probable production of about 70,000 tons, 
including dried and acidulated scrap. The amount produced in 1919 
was 63,018 tons and in 1913, 68,705 tons. It is believed by this 
department that there are no large stocks of fish scrap in the country 
at the present time. 

The estimates of the stocks of the other organic ammoniates, 
including cottonseed meal, animal tankage, and dried blood available 
for fertilizers are very much more difficult to state than in the case 
of the fish scrap or the mineral ammoniates. This Department 
estimated that in the period from July 1, 1917, to June 30, 1918, 
that of the total tons of cottonseed meal and cake produced in the 
United States about 34.9 per cent were used for fertilizers and about 
65.1 per cent were used for feed. With the high prices prevailing 
for cottonseed meal during the first half of 1920 it is believed that 
relatively less of the cottonseed meal was used for fertilizer. When 
the break came in the price of cottonseed meal it was attended by a 
lack of buying power on the part of the feeders and also on the part 
of the fertilizer manufacturers. The amount of cottonseed meal 
produced in 1920 is estimated around 2,288,000 tons, based on the 
amount of cotton produced, while the amount of cottonseed meal 
produced in 1913 was estimated at 2,220,000 tons. The proportion 
of this meal used for fertilizers in 1913 was, however, considerably 
greater than the proportion used in 1920, due to the great increase in 
the use of cottonseed meal for feeding purposes. With the sub- 
normal buying power for feeds and for fertilizer materials, together 
with the decrease in the number of cattle and hogs, the increase in 
the corn crop and the late pastures, the stocks of cottonseed meal 
available for fertilizer purposes are believed to be larger than usual. 

There are no figures whatever for the production of animal tank- 
age, dried blood, and similar slaughterhouse products available for 
1920 and no reliable figures for 1913. The latest information in the 
possession of this department is for the years 1917 and 1918, which 
are as follows : 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 



Tankage and allied products produced in 1917 and 1918 and marketed in 1918. 
[Expressed in short tons.] 





Production, 503 
firms reporting. 


Quantity marketed in 1918, 386 
firms reporting. 


Percentage marketed, 
1918. 


Material. 


1917 


1918 


Total. 


As fer- 
tilizer. 


As feed. 


For 
other 

pur- 
poses. 


As fer- 
tiU/.er. 


As feed. 


For 
other 

pur- 
poses. 


Animal tankage: 

High grade 

Low grade 

Concentrated tank- 
age 


157, 300 
59, 604 

24,674 

36, 997 

7,750 

32, 007 

27, 981 

24, 348 

5,617 

6, 715 

3,265 


185,839 
64, 614 

25,490 

34, 718 

10, 004 

35, 463 

33, 644 

21,475 

8,754 

4,671 

3,233 


182, 320 
62, 805 

26, 098 

28, 598 

3,732 

32, 578 

26, 451 

20, 158 

4.638 

4; 008 

3, 561 


103, 703 
56,239 

16, 540 

28, 598 
3,122 
26, 918 
22, 607 
20, 093 
1,941 
3,539 


78, 187 
5,213 

9,481 


430 
1,354 


56.9 
89.5 

63.4 
100.0 
89.7 
83.6 
82.6 
85.5 
41.8 
88.3 


42.9 
8.3 

36.3 


0.2 
2.2 

.3 


Garbage tankage. . . 
Tankage (n.o.s.). . . 
Dried blood 




58 

5,671 

3,281 

5 


552 


1.6 

1.5 

17.4 

12.3 


14.7 
14.9 




862 

60 

2,698 

83 

11 




Dried bones 

Hair 


3.2 

58.2 


Hoofs and horns 


386 
3,549 


9.6 
99.7 


2.1 
.3 











There have been no unusual developments in the production of 
these animal materials since 1918, and there is no apparent reason 
why these same figures should not fairly well represent the present 
production. The tendency has been to use more and more of the 
animal tankage and even of the garbage tankage for feeding purposes. 

Acid phosphate. — Statistics of the actual production of acid phos- 
phate in 1920 are not available, as the department had no funds with 
which to collect this data and the acid phosphate manufacturers are 
averse to giving this information to trade journals. The Federal 
Trade Commission recognized this same difficulty, and in their report 
on the fertilizer industry of August 19, 1916, made in compliance with 
a Senate resolution, they estimated the production of acid phosphate 
for 1913 from the amount of phosphate rock that had been produced. 
The census indicated a total production of 3,040,219 tons of acid 
phosphate in 1909, and it was known that the domestic consumption 
of phosphate rock in that year was 1,329,611 long tons. This gives a 
ratio of about 2.3 tons of acid phosphate for 1 ton of rock used. On 
this basis they estimated that the production of 16 per cent bulk acid 
phosphate in 1913 was approximate^ 4,000,000 tons. This ratio 
holds very nearly to the figures given by the census for the production 
of acid phosphate in 1914 and the corresponding amount of domestic 
rock produced in that year. Applying this ratio to the production of 
domestic rock in 1920 from a preliminary statement of the Geolog- 
ical Survey, it would appear that the production of acid phosphate in 
1920 has been around 4,500,000 tons. Under normal conditions this 
would have been considered a normal supply of acid phosphate and 
the industry could readily have absorbed it. With the subnormal 
buying power, however, that developed in the fall of 1920 and the 
anticipated smaller sales of commercial fertilizers in the spring of 1921, 
stocks have accumulated in the last two months and some of the acid 
plants have actually closed because their storage capacity has been 
reached. 



8 THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 

II. THE PRICE OF EACH FERTILIZER MATERIAL IN 1920 AS COMPARED 

WITH 1913. 

The prices for fertilizer materials have fluctuated so greatly in the 
year 1920 that the complete weekly quotations are given for the 
information of the Senate as taken from the Oil, Paint, and Drug 
Reporter, which was the principal organ recognized by the War 
Industries Board for the collection of data for these materials. There 
are also given the average monthly quotations in 1913, as determined 
by the War Industries Board and published in their Bulletin No. 48. 

Wholesale quotations of 'principal fertilizer materials. 

I. PHOSPHATES. 

[Quotations are per ton.] 



Date. 



6,S per cent 
Florida land 
pebble phos- 
phate rock f. 
0. b. Tampa. 



Bulk acid 
phosphate for 
use by manu- 
facturers 
f. 0. b. New 
York. 



Straight acid 
phosphate in 
bags as used 
by the farm- 
ers, basis 
northern 
ports. 



Jan. 5. . 
Jan. 12. 
Jan. 19. 
Jan. 26. 
Feb. 2.. 
Feb. 9.. 
Feb. 16. 
Feb. 23. 
Mar. 1 . . 



Mar. 8 . . 
Mar. lo . 
Mar. 22. 
Mar. 29- 
Apr. 5 . . 
Apr. 12. 
Apr. 19 . 
Apr. 26. 
May 3.. 
May 10., 
May 17.. 
May 24.. 
May 31 . . 
June 1 ... 
June 14., 
June 21.. 
June 28.. 
July 5 . . . 
July 12.. 
July 19.. 
July 26.. 
Aug. 2. . . 
Aug. 9.. 
Aug. 16. . 
Aug. 23. . 
Aug. .30. . 
Sept. 6.. 
Sept. 13. 
Sept. 20. 
Sept. 27. 
Oct. 4.. 
Oct. 11.. 
Oct. 18.. 
Oct. 25.. 
Nov. 1... 
Nov. 8... 
Nov. 16.. 
Nov. 22.. 
Nov. 29.. 
Dec. 6... 
Dec. 13.. 
Dec. 20.. 
Dec. 27.. 



(') 
(M 

(') 

(1) 

0) 

S6. 85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6. 85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

6.85 

00-10. 50 

00-10. 50 

00-11. .50 

00-11. 50 

00-11. .50 

00-11. .50 

00-11. 50 

,00-11. .50 

00-11. .50 

00-11.50 

00-11. 50 

00-11. .50 

,7.5-11.25 

7.5-11. 25 

00-12. 00 

00-12. 00 

00-11. .50 

00-11. .50 

00-11. .50 

00-11. ,50 

00-U. 50 

00-11. 50 

50-11.00 

50-11. 00 

00- 9. 50 

00- 9. 50 

00- 9. 50 

00- 9. 50 



$19. 75 
19. 75 
19.75 
19.75 
19.75 
19. 75 
19. 75 
19.75 
19.00 
19.00 
19.00 
19.00 
19.00 
19. 00 
19.00 
18.50 
18.50 
18. 50 
18.50 
18.50 
18.50 
18. 50- 19. 00 
18. .50- 19.00 
18. 50- 19. 00 
20.00 
20.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
21.00 
20. 00-22. 00 
20. 00-22. 00 
20. 00-22. 00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 
3 17. 00 
19.50 
19.00 
19.00 
IS. 00-18. 50 



$24. 00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24. 00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

24.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30.00 

30. 00 

30.00 

30 00 

30.00 

30. 00 

30 00 

25. 00-29. 00 

25. 00-29. 00 

25. 00-29. 00 

25. 00-29. 00 

2.5. 00-29. 00 

2,5. 00-29. 00 

2.5.00-29.80 

25. 00-29. 00 

25. 00-29. 00 

25. 00-29. 00 

25. 00-29. 00 

25. 00-29. 00 



1 Nominal. 



2 F. 0. b. mines. 



3 F. 0. b. Baltimore. 



THE FEETILIZER SITUATION. 



Wholesale quotations of principal fertilizer materials — Continued. 
I. PHOSPHATES— Continu3d. 



Date. 


68 per cent 
Florida land 
pebble phos- 
phate rock f . 
0. b. Tampa. 


Bulk acid 
phosphate for 
use bj^ manu- 
facturers 
f. 0. b. New 
York. 


Straight acid 
phosphate in 
Dags as used 
by the farm- 
ers, basis 
northern 
ports. 


1921. 
Jan. 3 


1 «9. 00- 9. 50 
1 9. 00- 9. .50 
1 9. 00- 9. 50 
1 9. 00- 9. 50 
1 9. 00- 9. 50 

3.70 
3.70 
3.70 
3.70 
3.70 
3.70 
3.70 
3.00 
3.00 
3.00 
3.00 
3.00 


$18. 00-18. 50 
16.00 
16.00 
16.00 
15.00 

S.OO 
8.00 
8.00 
8.00 
8.00 
8.00 
8.00 
7.20 
7.20 
7.20 
7.20 
7.20 


S25. 00-29. 00 


Jan. 10 . 


25. 00-29. 00 


Jan. 17 


25. 00-29. 00 


Jan. 24 


25. 00-29. 00 


Jan. 31.. .. 


25. 00-29. 00 


1913 


< 9. 65 




^9.51 




4 9.77 




19.94 




4 9.84 




19.93 


July 





























1 Nominal. 

1 F. 0. b. Norfolk, 1914: figures for 1913 not available. 

The ferrilizer manufacturers made un their prices for mixed fertilizers for the fall trade of 1£20 in Mp-< 
and June; for the Spring trade of 1921 in October, 1920. 

n. MINERAL AMMONIATES. 
[Quotations are per 100 poimds.] 




3.25 
3.00 
3.00 
3.00 
3.00 



1 Nominal. 



10 



THE FEETILIZER SITUATION. 



Wholesale quotations of principal fertilizer materials — Continued. 
II. MINERAL AMMONIATES— Continued. 



Date. 



1913 

January 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 



Nitrate 

of soda, 

f. 0. b. 

New York. 



$2. PO 
2.(i0 
2. 02 
2.62 
2.02 
2.(:2 



Ammoni- 
um sul- 
phate, 
f. 0. b. 
works. 



2 S3. 22 
2 3.30 
2 3. 30 
2 3.40 
2 3.. 3.5 
23.00 



Date. 



1913 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 



Nitrate 

of soda, 

f. o. b. 

New York. 



$2. .55 
2.- 55 
2.45 
2.40 
2.35 
2.20 



2 F. 0. b. New York. 
III. ORGANIC AMMONIATES. 



Jan. S... 
.Tan. 12.. 
.Tan. 19.. 
Jan. 26 . . 
Feb. 2... 
Feb. 9... 
Feb. 16.. 
Feb. 23.. 
Mar. 1... 
Mar. 8... 
Mar. 15.. 
Mar. 22.. 
Mar. 29.. 
Apr. 5... 
Apr. 12.. 
Apr. 19.. 
Apr. 26. . 
Mays... 
May 10. . 
May 17.. 
May 24. . 
May 31.. 
June?... 
June 14. . 
June 21.. 
June 28.. 
July 5. . . 
July 12. . 
July 19.. 
July 26. . 
Aug. 2.. 
Aug. 9.. 
Aug. 16. 
Aug. 23 . 
Aug. 30. 
Sept. 6. 
Sept. 13. 
Sept. 20. 
Sept. 27. 
Oct. 4. 
Oct. 11. 
Oct. 18. 
Oct. 25. 
Nov. 1. 
Nov. 8. 
Nov. 15. 
Nov. 22. 
Nov. 29. 
Dec. 6. 



Date. 



Cottonseed 
meal, per 

ton, f. o. b. 
Atlanta. 



Animal 
tankage, 
per ton, 
f. 0. b. 
Chicago. 



«70. 00 
70.00 
70.00 



69.00 
69.00 



67.50 
67.50 
67.50 
67.50 
68.00 
68.00 
68.00 



68.00 
67.00 
67.00 
67.00 



65. 00 
66.00 
66.00 
66.00 



62.50 
62.00 
62.00 



45. 00-45. 50 

45. 00-50. 00 

45. 00-50. 00 

45. 00-50. 00 

45. 00-50. 00 

45. 00-50. 00 

45. 00-50. 00 

40.00 

36.00 

36.00 

36.00 

36.00 

36.00 

30.00 



65. 90 
65.90 
65.90 
69 50 
69. ,50 
69.50 
69.50 
74.00 
78.50 
78.50 
79.40 
79.40 
79.40 
79.40 
79.40 
79.40 
74.00 
74.00 
74.00 
74.00 
69.50 
69.50 
69.50 
69.50 
69.50 
69.50 
71.75 
71.75 
71.75 
71.75 
71. 75 
69.50 
67.25 
67. 25 
65. 00 
65. 00 
65.00 
67. 25 
67. 25 
62. 75 
62.75 
56.00 
51.50 
42.50 
42.50 
38.00 
35. 75 
33.50 

1 Nominal. 



Dried blood, 
per unit of 
ammonia, 

f. 0. b. New 
York. 



$7. 50-$7. 85 

7. 50- 7. 85 

7. 50- 7. 85 

7. 50- 7. 85 

7. 50- 7. 85 

8.00 

8.00 

8.00 

8.75 

8.75 

8.75 

8.75 

8.75 

8.50 

8.50 

8.50 

8.25 

8.25 

8.00 

8. 00- 8. 10 

8. 00- 8. 10 

8.00 

8.00 

8.00 

8.00 

8.00 

8.00 

8.25 

8.00 

8.00 

8.00 

8.00 

8.00 

8.00 

7. 50- 7. 75 

7. 50-7. 75 

7. 50-7. 75 

7. 50-7. 75 

7. 50-7. 75 

7. 00-7. 25 

7. 00-7. 25 

7.00 

6. 00-6. 50 

5. 62-6. 00 

5. 62-6. 00 

5.0O 

5.00 

4. .50 

4.75 



Fish scrap 
dried, per 

unit of 
ammonia, 

f. o. b. 

works. 



$7. 25-$7. 40 
7. 25- 7. 40 
7. 25- 7. 40 
7. 25- 7. 40 

(') 

(1) 

(1) 

(1) 

(1) 

(1) 

Q) 

(') 

(') 

(1) 

(1) 

0) 

(1) 

(1) 
8.25 
8. 00- 8. 25 

(1) 

(1) 

(1) 
8.00 
7.50 
7.50 
7.50 
7.65 
7.60 
7.50 
7.50 
7.50 
7.50 
7.50 
7.50 
7.50 
7.50 
7.50 
6.00 
6.00 
6.00 
6.00 
5.80 
5.25 
5.00 
5.00 
4.00 
3.90 
3.80 



Fish 
scrap 
acidu- 
lated, 
per imit 
of am- 
monia, 
f. o. b. 
works. 



$5.60 
5 50 
5.50 
5.50 
5.50 
5.50 
5.50 

0) 
5.50 

(I) 

0) 

</) 

0) 

(1) 
(1) 
(1) 

G) 
6.00 
6.00 

6.50 
6.50 
6.50 
6. .50 
6.50 
6.50 
6.50 
6.50 
6.50 
6.50 
7.00 
7.00 
7.00 
7.00 
6.50 
6.50 
6.50 
6. .50 
5. ,50 
5.50 
5.50 
5.50 
5.50 
5.00 
4.90 
4.90 
4.90 
4.50 
4.50 



THE FEKTILIZER SITUATION. 



11 



Wholesale quotations of principal fertilizer materials — Continued, 
ni. ORGANIC AMMONIATES— Continued.. 



Date. 



1920. 

Dec. 13 , 

Dec. 20 , 

Dec. 27 

1921. 

Jan. 3 , 

Jan. 10 

Jan. 17 , 

Jan. 24 , 

Jan. 31 

1913. 

January , 

February , 

March..." , 

April , 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October , 

November , 

December 



Cottonseed 
meal, per 

ton, i. 0. b. 
Atlanta. 



$30. 00 
30.00 
30.00 



30.00 
30.00 
30.00 
30.00 
30. 00-31. 00 



25 00 
25.00 
25.00 
26.50 
27.00 
27.00 
27.00 
27.00 
25 00 
24.50 
26.00 
27.00 



Animal 
tankage, 
per ton, 
f. 0. b. 
Chicago. 



$2^. 00 
28. 10 
27.20 



27.20 
29.00 
26.75 
29.00 
28.10 



21.35 
22.25 
21.80 
22.70 
22. 25 
21.80 
21.35 
20.45 
21.80 
24. 50 
27.20 
26.75 



Dried blood, 
per unit of 
ammonia, 

f. 0. b. New 
York. 



$4.75 
4.25 
4.00 



4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
3.75 
3. 75-4. 00 



2.75 
2.75 
2.75 
2.75 
2.75 
2.75 
2.85 
2.85 
2.85 
2.95 
2.95 
3.30 



Fish scrap 
dried, per 

unit of 
ammonia, 

f. 0. b. 

works. 



3. 50 
3.50 



3.50 
3.75 
3.75 
3.75 
3.75 



2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.00 
2.72 
2.60 
2.85 
3.10 
3.10 
3.60 



Fish 
scrap 
acidu- 
lated, 
per unit 
of am- 
monia, 
f. 0. b. 
works. 



$4.00 
4.00 
4.00 



4.00 
3.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 



2 2.50 
2 2.50 
2 2. 50 
2 2.50 
2 2.50 
2 2. 50 



2 2. 52 
2 2.60 



Garbage 

tankage, 

per ton, 

f. 0. b. 

Chicago. 



$8.00 
8.00 
S.OO 



S.OO 
S.OO 
S.OO 
8.00 
8.00 



9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9.00 
9 00 



2 Delivered. 
IV. POTASH SALTS. 



Date. 


Potassium 

muriate, 

per unit, 

f. 0. b. 

New York. 


Potas- 

sixmi 
sulphatBj 
per unit, 

f. 0. b. 
New 

York. 


Date. 


Potassium 

muriate, 

per unit, 

f. 0. b. 

New York. 


Potas- 
sium 

sulphate, 

per unit, 

f. 0. b. 

New 

York. 


1920. 
Jan. 5 


$2.75-$3.00 

2. 75- 3. 00 

2. 75- 3. 00 

2. 75- 3. 00 

2. 85- 3. 00 

2. 85- 3. 00 

2. 85- 3. 00 

2. 80- 2. 85 

2. 80- 2. 85 

2. 80- 2. 85 

2. 70- 2. 75 

2. 50- 2. 55 

2. 50- 2. 55 

2. 50- 2. 55 

2. 50- 2. 55 

2. 50- 2. 55 

2. 50- 2. 55 

2. 50- 2. 55 

2. 50- 2. 55 

2. 50- 2. 60 

2.50 

2.40 

2.40 

2.40 

2.40 

2.40 

2.40 

2.40 


$4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
4.00 
3.50 
3.50 
3.50 
3.50 
3.50 
3.50 
3.50 
3.50 


1920. 
July 19 


$2.40 

2.40 

2.40 

2.55 

2.40 

2.40 

2.40 

2.40 

2.40 

2.25 

2.25 

2.25 

2.25 

2.25 

2. 00-2. 25 

2. 00-2. 25 

2. 17-2. 25 

2. 17-2. 25 

2. 00-2. 25 

2. 00-2. 25 

2. 00-2. 25 

2. 00-2. 25 

2. 00-2. 25 

2. 00-2. 25 

1. 80-1. 85 
1. 80-1. 85 


(1) 


Jan. 12 


July 26 


(1) 


Jan. 19 


Aug. 2 . 


(1) 


Jan. 26 


Aug. 9 


$4.00 


Feb. 2 


Aug. 16 


4.00 


Feb. 9 


Aug. 23 


3.50 


Feb. 16 


Aug. 30 


3.50 


Feb. 23 


Sept. 6 


3.10 


Mar. 1 


Sept. 13 


3.00 


Mar. 8 


Sept. 20 


2.85 


Mar. 15 


Sent. 27 


2.85 


Mar. 22 


I Oct. 4 


2.85 


Mar. 29. 


Oct. 11 


2.85 


Apr. 5 


Oct. 18 


2.85 


Apr.l2 


Oct. 25 


2.85 


Apr. 19 . . 


Nov.l 


2.85 


Apr.26 


Nov. 8 


2.85 


May 3 


Nov. 15 


2.85 


May 10 . . . 


Nov. 22 


2.85 


May 17 


Nov. 29 


2.85 


May 24 . . . 


Dec. 6 


2.85 


May 31 


Dec. 13 


2.85 


June 7 


Dec. 20 


2.85 


June 14. .. 


Dec. 27 


2.85 


June 21 


1921. 
Jan. 3 




June 28 




July 5 


2.85 


July 12 


Jan. 10 


2.25 



1 Nominal. 



12 THE FERTILIZER SITUATIOlSr. 

Wholesale quotations of principal fertilizer materials — Continued. 

IV. POTASH SALTS. 









Potas- 






Potas- 






Potassium 


siiun 




Potassium 


sium 






muriate. 


sulphate, 




muriate, 


sulphate, 




Date. 


per unit, 


per unit, 


Date. 


per imit. 


per unit. 






i. 0. b. 


f. 0. b. 




f. 0. b. 


f. 0. b. 






New York. 


New- 
York. 




New York. 


New 
York. 




1D12. 






1913. 






Jan. 17.... 




$1.70 


$2.25 


May 


$0.77 


$0.94 


Jan. 24 


1.60 
1.50 


2.25 
2.15 


June.. . 


.77 
.77 


9* 


Jan. 31 


July 


.94 










August 


.76 


.94 




1913. 


.77 
.77 
.77 
.77 


.94 
.94 
.94 
.94 


September 


.76 
.76 
.76 

.76 


.94 


January . . 


October. 


.94 


February 




.94 


March 


December . . 


.94 


April 













III. 



SUGGESTIONS AS TO RELIEF IF THE AMOUNT IS INSUFFICIENT OR 
THE PRICES ARE PROHIBITIVE. 



If this report had been called for as of July 1920, before the break 
in fertilizer material prices due to the credit situation and the sub- 
normal buying power, this department would have felt it necessary 
to report a doubt as to the sufficiency of the supply of a number of 
the fertilizer materials and to state that the prices then prevailing 
for many of the materials were high and practically prohibitive. 
With the situation which has since developed in Europe, in Japan, 
and in this country, a threatened shortage has been followed by an 
undoubted surplus and makes the situation difficult to handle. 

It is evident that the fertilizer manufacturers and importers did 
not follow the conditions of supply and demand as closely as they 
were knoM^n to this department. It seems evident also that, if the 
department had had sufficient money to collect and publish informa- 
tion as to stocks and probable demand by the farmers, it would 
have been helpful. 

The fertilizer industry has always been conducted practically on 
a credit basis, the fertilizer companies extending credit to the end 
of the crop season, therefore doing practically a banking business on 
a single class of commodities. Credit sales made as early as Novem- 
ber or December are not paid until the following November or Decem- 
ber. The short collections made from October to December of 
1920, due to the inability of the farmers to pay, has made it increas- 
ingly difficult for the fertilizer manufacturers to extend and carry 
these credits and to arrange for credits for the crop season of 1921. 
This is admittedly a practice which should be changed if possible for 
a number of important reasons as set forth in the report of the Federal 
Trade Commission. 

The Federal Trade Commission, in their report to the Senate of 
August 19, 1916, found and so reported that through ownership, 
leases, and contracts the larger fertilizer companies had practical 
control of the rock phosphate deposits and of the acid phosphate 
plants, but that on account of the large overproduction of acid 



THE FEETILIZER SITUATION. 13 

phosphate at that time, they were unable to hold up the price of 
this material. 

With the strike in the Florida fields, extending over several months 
in 1919, and with the serious car shortage of that year and of the first 
part of 1920, the larger fertilizer companies in 1920 have secured 
contract rock at the mines at prices not exceeding S6 a ton, while 
for noncontract rock the prices ranged from $11 to $12 a ton for most 
of the year. The larger fertilizer companies have stated the actual 
cost of material to them of bulk acid phosphate to be around $12 to 
$13 a ton, while the price of bulk acid phosphate for cash sales and 
to those who held no contracts ranges from $20 to $22 per ton, basis 
New York. Acid phosphate forms from 50 to 60 per cent of the bulk 
of mixed fertilizers. The fertilizer manufacturers generally desire 
to sell mixed fertilizers rather than the separate ingredients to the 
farmers for straight application or for home mixing. The smaller 
manufacturers and dry mixers are entirely dependent upon their 
larger competitors for the acid phosphate or the rock phosphate 
which they need. They then enter into competition in the sale of 
fertilizers with their larger competitors who have control of the 
phosphate situation and who sell the phosphate to them on their 
own terms. It is a matter for serious consideration that one group 
of fertilizer manufacturers having large capital should be permitted 
to exercise practically complete control of a natural deposit and the 
manufacture of acid phosphate therefrom as against the interests of 
a large number of smaller manufacturers who can buy other materials 
normally at about the same prices paid by the larger manufacturers, 
but who, under the conditions recently prevailing of short supplies, 
have been compelled to pay excessive prices to the larger manufac- 
turers for their acid phosphate, with whom they are competing in 
the sales of their mixed fertilizers. 

From July, 1920, to the end of November the cash price for bulk 
acid phosphate was quoted at $20 to $22 per ton. In November 
this department called the attention of the principal acid phosphate 
producers to the fact that most other fertilizer materials had been 
reduced nearly 50 per cent over the prices prevailing during the first 
of the year, but that the price of acid phosphate, wliich was entirely 
controlled by them through ownership, leases, and contracts, had 
increased in the price quotations. While other materials had de- 
clined to near the prewar prices, bulk acid phosphate was quoted at 
two and one-half times the prewar price. This department suggested 
that very substantial reductions should be voluntarily made by them 
on the price of acid phosphate in justice to the farmers and to restore 
confidence and to stimulate bujnng of fertilizers. This suggestion 
was not met by the acid phosphate manufacturers, and it waj not 
until the buying had so far declined, contracts were being canceled, 
the bins were overflowing, and the mills were closing down, that the 
break finally was forced upon them through the necessity of throwing 
a quantity of resale material on the market. 

This department has been exceedingly desirous of making a thor- 
ough investigation of the actual cost of production, and the contract 
and cash sales situation in the phosphate rock mines, but has been 
unable to do so because of lack of money for such an investigation. 



14 THE FERTILIZER SITUATIOIST. 

The department feels that a thorough investigation should be 
made of the acid phosphate from the mines to the factories to see if 
reHef can be afforded to the smaller manufacturers and to the farmers 
v'ho wish to buy acid phosphate in bags for straight application to 
the soil or for home mixing at reasonable prices. This department 
has frecj[uently been forced to take sharp issue with fertilizer com.- 
panies who require the purchase of two or three tons of mixed fer- 
tilizers for every ton of straight acid phosphate purchased. 

The department has also taken issue with the acid phosphate manu- 
ufacturers in the change made in their bookkeeping system of allo- 
cating their general overhead and factory costs lor their mixing 
plants on the acid photphate prices instead of treating this, as for- 
merly, as a separate manufactured commodity sold on the basis of 
its actual and separate cost of production, thus apparently making 
more than one profit, and setting the price relatively so high that the 
farmers can not economically purchase it for home mixing in compe- 
tition with the manufacturer \\'ho desires to mix it for them. It has 
been impossible for the department to act because of the lack of funds 
with wliich to make a thorough factory and field investigation. 

The present practice of mining phosphate rock for treatment with 
sulphuric acid to produce acid phosphate entails a loss estimated at 
around 68 per cent of the phosphate that is mined which is thrown 
upon the dumps. The department has been working upon a method 
which promises to be cheaper and much more conserving of the rock 
deposits. The department feels that this investigation should be 
pushed with the idea of ultimately cheapening the cost of production 
and of conserving our natural deposits of phosphate rock. 

The nitrogen situation is somewhat more complex, as there are more 
matters to consider. Formerly the price of nitrogen, in nitrate of 
soda, which is a world commodity, had an influence on the prices of 
other nitrogenous compounds. During the war, however, so large a 
proportion of the organic ammoniates went into feeding stuffs that 
the unit price of ammonia departed very widely from that of nitrate 
of soda. The decline in the number and prices of cattle in 1920 and 
the decline in the price of hogs, together with the large corn crop and 
the late pastures, have brought: about a lessening of the buying power 
of feeding stuffs, and the present prices of organic ammoniates have 
again become comparable with nitrate of soda. 

It is evident from the statistics which have been given of the large 
imports of nitrate of soda in 1920, due in large part to the credit 
situation abroad and to the fall in the buying power of the European 
markets, that we have large stocks to carry over. The price has 
declined to nearly the prewar price. The original purchase price is 
considerably higher than the selling price which now prevails. It 
seems evident that the matter will work itself out in accordance with 
the ordinary laws of trade and an adjustment by the importers and 
manufacturers who have purchased their stocks. 

The present price of sulphate of ammonia has dropped to about 
the prewar price. The stocks are undoubtedly large because the indi- 
cations are that the production this year has been larger than ever 
before, while much of the material exported in 1919 has been returned 
for resale. 

The prices of the organic ammoniates, including cottonseed meal, 
animal tankage, dried blood, fish scrap, andgarbage tankage, have de- 
clined nearly or quite to the prewar level. It has already been stated 



THE FEETILIZER SITUATION. 15 

that the larger fertilizer manufacturers bought or contracted for a 
large proportion of their requirements of these materials before the 
break in prices occurred. The acute credit situation makes it difficult 
for the smaller manufacturers who have not bought their goods to 
take advantage of the present low prices of materials. 

The fertilizer trade as a whole was urged to take their losses at once 
so as to stabilize prices and to further the buying power, so that they 
may quickly dispose of their high-priced materials. As they have 
not taken this course, it is probable that considerable stocks of fertilizer 
materials and of mixed fertilizers may be carried over to the end of 
1921 and even to the spring of 1922, so that unless conditions change 
the readjustment in the fertilizer trade will extend over at least one 
and perhaps two years. 

The uncertainty as to the potash situation has already been referred 
to. This country has been short of potash for the past five or six 
years except for the relatively small amount which has been produced 
in this country and the rather small importation in 1919. The manu- 
facturers and importers apparently failed to see the relativelv large 
imports of 1920. The feeling of uncertainty as to prices or deliveries 
from Germany and from Alsace has operated to have them continue 
the cautious use of potash in mixed fertilizers with the result that 
toward the end of the year they suddenly realized that large stocks 
had accumulated which they might have disposed of had they known 
the conditions. This flood of foreign potash has caused suspension 
of activity in a number of the Nebraska lakes plants. From a price 
of $2.25 per unit in September the price has dropped to $1.50 per 
unit. With the lack of buying power the importers are caught with 
high-priced material and a falling market. Domestic production has 
been curtailed. While there is a present surplus due to an unusual 
combination of conditions, it is very desirable to build up an American 
potash industry to prevent future foreign influence on American 
agriculture through the exclusive control of this important fertilizer 
constituent. The department feels that the American industry must 
be built up by economical methods of production, and that through 
such methods a substantial industry can be developed in competition 
with foreign sources. The latest quotation on muriate of potash is 
$1.50 per unit with the market rapidly falling, as against 76 and 77 
cents per unit in 1913. 

The Federal Trade Commission referred at the time they made 
their investigation of the fertilizer industry to the control that the 
large fertilizer manufacturers had through their discounts for potash 
sales and through their partial control of the cotton-oil mills, animal 
tankage, and other nitrogenous products. This department is using 
its influence to secure an open market for foreign potash salts without 
trade discounts. The other matters have already been presented to 
the Senate. 

Some time ago, at the request of the chairman of the House Com- 
mittee on Agriculture, the department prepared a draft of a national 
fertilizer law, a copy of which is appended. The department believes 
that such a law, although it does not provide for price control, would 
supplement and strengthen the State laws and that it should be 
enacted by the Congress, since it would also provide a means for 
acquiring information by which the department could keep in touch 
with the situation. The life of the Lever law from which the depart- 



16 THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 

ment now gets its authority is uncertain. A permanent law would 
tend to stabilize the industry, especially as the industry is now going 
through a profound change. 

IV. A REPORT ON INVESTIGATIONS MADE AND RESULTS SINCE THE 
PUBLICATION OF SENATE DOCUIMENT NO. 262, SIXTY- FOURTH CON- 
GRESS, FIRST SESSION, ON JANUARY 26, 1916. 

When President Taft took cognizance of American dependence ou 
Germany for all of the potash entering American fertilizers through 
serious difficulties which had arisen regard mg^ contracts and prices 
between American ra.anufacturers and the Government-controlled 
potash sjmdicate m Germany, Congress granted an appropriation for 
the Bureau of Soils to make investigations of the fertilizer resources 
of the United States mcluding a search for potash. 

The Bureau of Soils made a thorough investigation of surface 
indications of potash salts and nitrate of soda deposits in the Western 
States and a more general investigation of the salt deposits of the 
Northern States. Tiiese surveys with the exception of Searles Lake 
and some of the smaller lakes gave indications of no workable deposits 
of potash salts occurring as such or of nitrate of soda. The bureau 
reported, however, on the possibilities of the commercial production 
of potash from the giant kelps of the Pacific coast, the deposits of 
Searles Lake, Calif., the saline lakes of western Nebraska, the dust 
from cement mills and from blast furnaces, the feldspars, green sand 
marls, wool waste, alunite, beet-sugar waste and distillery waste. 
The bureau pointed out that the commercial success of extracting 
potash from all of these sources at prewar prices depended upon the 
utilization of by-products. 

After the beginnmg of the European war and the consequent 
embargo on foreign potash salts, the price of potash went up as high 
as $6 per unit or more and all of the possible sources pointed out by 
the bureau "were developed to a greater or less extent, but without 
regard to cost of production or to the value of by-products. In 1918 
there were 128 domestic plants which produced a total of 54,803 short 
tons of pure potash. In 1919 the number of plants had been reduced 
to 77 and the production to 30,845 tons. Although it is estimated 
that in 1920 some 40,000 tons of actual potash were produced on 
account of the large imports the domestic production at present is 
decreasing. 

It is well now to review the lessons of the war in order to forecast 
the possible development in the future. The situation has not 
materially changed since President Taft's message to Congress. It 
is undoubtedly a fact that if the United States can produce a half 
or any considerable portion of the potash it needs we would be less 
at the mercy of foreign corporations. The Bureau of Soils has con- 
fined its investigations mainly to three sources — the giant kelps of 
the Pacific coast, the cement dust, and the blast furnace dust, believing 
that these are large and permanent sources for the production of 
potash salts within the range of prewar prices. 

There seems to be no question but what with economical methods 
a considerable amount of high-grade potash salts can be economically 
produced from the Searles Lake deposits. The saline lakes of western 
Nebraska have been the principal contributors of American potash. 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 17 

The production of potash from alunite rocks, from wool waste, and 
beet-sugar waste is undoubtedly a sou^'ce of a relatively small amount 
of potash as a commercial i^ossibility. 

When it was found that the giaiit kelps of the Pacific coast carried 
a high percentage of potash salts, surveys were made by the Bureau of 
Soils of the kelp beds lying in that coastal region of the United States 
and its Territory, Alaska. The enormous tonnage found represented 
a source of potash of great potential value. This material offered the 
possibility of valuable by-products obtainable with potash. Upon 
the outbreak of the war the facts established by the department were 
taken advantage of by private enterprises and a considerable number 
of plants were erected on the west coast, principally in southern 
California and Puget Sound, for the manufacture of potash from this 
material. 

At the same time Congress appropriated money for the erection 
and operation by the Bureau of Soils of an experimental and demon- 
strational kelp-potash plant with a view to determining the commer- 
cial feasibility of producing potash and the by-products which can 
be gotten from kelp, and with the hope that this information could 
be established in time to enable the private concerns operating to 
so develop their processes that they could continue the manufacture 
of potash from kelp upon restoration of normal conditions. The 
early termination of the war made this impossible, but subsequent 
experiments in this demons trational plant have established by- 
products of sufficient value to carry the manufacturing cost of the 
potash. The results as they now stand show the commercial feasi- 
bility of extracting potash from kelp with by-products and selling 
the potash, where freight rates are not prohibitive, in competition 
with potash from any other sources. 

While it is felt that the commercial feasibility of recovering by- 
products of sufficient value to carry the cost of extracting potash has 
been demonstrated, it is the desire of this bureau to continue the 
operation of this plant until the efficiency of these processes has been 
increased to the point where the economic features will persuade 
outside concerns to reenter the industry. The successful outcome 
of this work will make available for a substantially large industry a 
great and inexhaustible source of raw material now going to waste. 

In a survey that was made of the cement industry by the Bureau 
of Soils it was found that the potash that escapes from all the plants 
of the country, as at present operated, amounts to about 87,000 tons 
of K2O. Several estimates were made of the potash that escapes 
from each individual plant. Installations have since been placed in 
a number of these plants for the recovery of potash, and in every 
case the quantity that was found to escape from the kilns checked in 
a remarkable way with the estimates that have been made by the 
bureau. As a result of the department's investigations it has been 
found that the percentage of potash volatilized can be increased, that 
the proportion of soluble potash in the dust can be increased, that 
the quantity of dust precipitated with the potash can be greatly 
reduced, and that the potash can be recovered in a dust of high con- 
centration which can be used without further manipulation. The 
development of a process for the recovery of potash from cement 
dust has gone so far that in at least one plant the potash is being 

S. Doc. 410, 66-3- — 2 



^^ THE FERTILIZER SITUATION". 

recovered in such a highly concentrated condition that it can be sold 
directly as a potash carrier without further manipulation. 

Popular opinion has decreed that the dust nuisance m connection 
with cement mills must be abated by the installation of machmery 
to free the escapmg gases from the dust. If the dust is to be col- 
lected, the potash is necessarily recovered with the dust and can be 
concentrated or extracted as a by-product. ... t 

The situation with regard to the recovery of potash Irom blast tur- 
naces is very sunilar to that outlined for the cement mdustry. A 
survey of this mdustry, corresponding to that which was made for 
cement plants, is now being made by this bureau. The results 
obtained in this work and in large-scale experunents now being made 
at two plants in this country go to show that the percentage of 
potash m the dust that escapes from some blast furnaces is higher 
than that contained m the richest cement dust and that the total 
quantity available from this source is about 200,000 tons ol K,0 
annually. It is thought, too. that potash can be recovered more 
economically from blast furnaces than from cement kilns, as other 
by-products may be recovered in addition to potash, and the advan- 
tages gained from cleaning the gases may more than cover the cost 

of 'coUectmg the dust. . „ -, ^ ^v. 4. 

A fair development of the application of these processes to the two 
industries would result m supplying a large part of the normal 
demand for potash in this country. , , , , • -i. 

It has likewise been found that the dry method of cleaning the 
o-ases of the blast furnace before they are used as a source of heat is 
preferable to the wet method now used. If the dust is collected by 
the dry method, the potash is collected along with the dust and can 
be extracted as a commercial proposition. ■, r i j -ii 

It appears, therefore, that the potash industry, if established, wiU 
be m rather small units of kelp plants established along the Facihc 
coast and in Alaska and from each of the cement mills and blast fur- 
naces, not as a primary object, but in a secondary way, as is now 
the recovering of nitrogen m the distillation of coal m the by-product 
ovens in the form of sulphate of ammonia. . 

It must be clearly understood that the present economic conditions 
concerning the credits and the lack of buying power have created a 
temporary surplus of nitrogenous materials which will be absorbed 
only as conditions throughout the world become more stable, i^ or 
20 years the scientists of the world have recognized the necessity ot 
further sources of nitrogen for agriculture. If the United States 
were to fertilize the commercial corn and wheat crops and extend 
the use of fertilizers westward along the Gulf coast for the cotton 
crop, as will eventually be done, the present source of nitrogen would 
be entirely insufficient to supply the demand. ^. ri .■ t 

In 1916 the Bureau of Soils was investigating the fixation ot 
atmospheric nitrogen by four methods— the formation of nitrides, the 
cyanamide process, the arc process, and the Haber process, investi- 
gations on these processes through establishing certain facts p^- 
taining to the economies involved showed that the method which 
held forth most promise of success under American conditions was 
the so-called Haber process. Accordingly, there was constructed at 
the Arlington Farm laboratory a ^lall experimental unit ot me 
Haber apparatus which was put into successful operation with the 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 19 

production of ammonia from the combination of hydrogen and 
nitrogen by means of a catalyst prepared by the Bureau of Soils. 
Likewise, a method was developed for the absorption of the ammonia 
produced. Furthermore, investigations were made of methods of 
the oxidation of ammonia to nitric acid for the manufacture of 
nitrates, and later a cooperative study of these oxidation methods 
was inaugurated with a prominent commercial chemical concern. 
The work at Arlington was practically the inception of the work on 
the Haber process in the United States, for while it later developed 
some secret experiments were made by at least one private corpora- 
tion, this was the first publicly known work in this country. 

On the entrance of this country into the European war this work 
was continued for awhile with assistants furnished by the Ordnance 
Department, United States Army, and, later, at the request of that 
department, the plant and personnel were put at their disposal for 
use in connection with their development of the nitrogen fixation 
plant at Sheffield, Ala., the Haber process being the basis of their 
work on the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen at that place. 

After the signing of the armistice the equipment used for the 
Haber work was transferred to the American University laboratory 
of the War Department and cooperation was there continued, the 
personnel transferred to the American University from this bureau 
applying itself to work relating to the fixation of nitrogen by the arc 
process and the cyanamide process, as well as continuing the investi- 
gations of the Haber process. 

Some of the problems connected with this process are the further 
improvement of the catalyzers which bring about the combination of 
the nitrogen and hydrogen to ammonia, the complete removal of the 
ammonia from the other gases after its formation, and the various 
miechanical features connected with the carrying out of the process 
at high gas pressures of 100 atmospheres or more. It is believed that 
the underlying principles for the preparation of a catalyst for this 
process have been determined. The system of recovery of ammonia 
from the gases worked out in the laboratory is now being tested on 
a semicommercial scale. Many of the details in connection with 
the mechanical construction of apparatus to withstand high pressures 
have also been successfully solved. 

In the judgment of the department it is vitally necessary that these 
investigations be continued until the method of nitrogen fixation is 
put upon a sound commercial basis. 

Since 1916 considerable progress has been made on investigations 
of our resources of natural phosphate and methods for utilizing thes« 
resources to the best advantage. 

The high prices and scarcity of acid phosphate and the demand for 
sulphuric acid for munition purposes during the early days of the war 
made it seem advisable to determine the agricultural value of finely 
ground phosphate rock for direct application as a fertilizer and an 
exhaustive study was made of the field experiments conducted with 
this material to determine if it could meet, in part at least, the shortage 
of phosphatic fertilizers. The results of this investigation showed that 
this material could be used and the conditions under which it might 
he employed to advantage were determined and the results were 
given wide publicity, both in Government publications as well as in 
the scientific press. 



20 THE FEETILIZER SITUATIOST. 

While the United States is independent of foreign sources for our 
phosphate supply and possesses within its borders reserves of phos- 

Ehate rock, the cream of these deposits in some of our eastern fields 
as been exhausted. This situation, taken in connection with the 
fact that the sulphuric acid normally used for producing phosphatic 
fertilizers from phosphate rock was being diverted to the manufacture 
of munitions, led the bureau to investigate other methods of treating 
phosphate rock which would enable us to not only utilize to better 
advantage the lower grades of rock but produce more concentrated 
products which would withstand the cost of long shipments and 
handling charges. 

The most promising of these methods is based on the volatilization 
of phosphoric acid from mixtures of phosphate rock, sand, and coke. 
The first experiments were conducted in an electric furnace and the 
feasibility of this method was amply demonstrated. The Bureau of 
Soils was the first to show the economic possibility of using the 
Cottrell method of collecting the phosphoric acid evolved in this 
process and the work was later carried on in a semicommercial plant 
in cooperation with an industrial concern. The data obtained is 
being used by commercial concerns and several are now using this 
process on a commercial scale. The economic feasibility of the electric 
furnace for producing phosphoric acid, however, is dependent on 
relatively cheap electric power and by the development of water 
power. In the West it is possible that this electric furnace process 
of producing phosphoric acid may open a market for the immense 
deposits of western phosphate rock which are now mined to a very 
limited extent. In the manufacture of special alloys it has been 
found commercially feasible to employ this process in the East where 
the phosphoric acid may be regarded as a by-product. 

It was deemed advisable to continue this investigation still further 
and determine the feasibility of producing phosphoric acid by heat 
treatment, employing fuel of various kinds in lieu of the electric arc. 
Contrary to general opinion, it was found that practically the same 
results could be obtained in a fuel-fed furnace and the installation of 
a plant of semicommercial size has been made at Arlington Farm; and 
the results obtained by the use of oil fuel point strongly to the eventual 
commercial success of this method. It has been shown that by use 
of low-grade phosphates and waste material from the dumps formerly 
regarded as of little commercial value the cost of production can be 
materially lowered, as the impurities contained in such deposits 
which are a detriment in the present methods of manufacturing 
phosphates are not objectionable in the heating process of such 
material. The outstanding feature of this investigation is that this 
method offers a means of utilizing deposits of relatively low-grade 
phosphates formerly regarded as of no commercial value and also the 
dumps of discarded material from former operations. These experi- 
ments are being continued with various types of rock from the different 
phosphate areas with a view to making this furnace method of general 
application. 

^ It is believed, therefore, that a method has been developed for the 
production of phosphoric acid at a Iqwer cost per pound than when 
produced by the sulphuric-acid .method, This ■^iU tend to greatly 
conserve the phosphate fields. It will also produce ,a much more 
concentrated product which will have far less weight and occupy far 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 21 

less car space than the superphosphates made from sulphuric acid, 
which contain usually only about 16 per cent of phosphoric acid, the 
rest being largely material without money value as fertilizer. 

We have at the present time only two acids available for general 
commercial use, sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid. Nitric acid is 
prepared from sodium nitrate imported from Chile and the cost has 
been too great for general commercial use. The possibility of pro- 
ducing a third acid, namely, phosphoric acid in a liquid form, would 
give the country three acids for commercial use, and many of the 
by-products now obtained with sulphuric and hydrochloric acids could 
be obtained in the form of soluble phosphates if phosphoric acid were 
available. These soluble phosphates would have a commercial value 
and would not be waste products which now often result from the use 
of sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid. 

In the fixation of ammonia at the by-product coke-oven plants and 
at the fixed-nitrogen plants, sulphuric acid is now used to make 
ammonium sulphate for fertilizer purposes. If phosphoric acid were 
available, the ammonium phosphate produced would be much more 
valuable as a fertilizer and of a much more concentrated form so far 
as plant food is concerned than is the ammonium sulphate. 

This method of producing liquid phosphoric acid by the smelting of 
the phosphate rock would, therefore, tend to widen the application 
of phosphoric acid with the result that phosphatic material available 
and suitable for fertilizer purposes would be cheaper than it is pro- , 
duced by the present method. 

If part of the ammonia from the fixed-nitrogen plants which are 
being established is oxidized, the nitric acid and ammonia is absorbed 
in the nitric acid, making ammonium nitrate and a part of the 
ammonia is absorbed in phosphoric acid, making ammonium phos- 
phate, and if part of the phosphoric acid is made into the crystalline 
form of potassium phosphate, which apparently is possible, we would 
have all three of the fertilizer elements in the most concentrated form 
possible and in forms that could be mixed in any proportions without 
chemical changes. 

This raises the question of the possibility of converting the fertilizer 
industry from a scavenger industry, as it has been largely in the past, 
to a real chemical industry and the furnishing of fertilizer mixtures 
without the natural or artificial fillers that at present exist, which add 
to the weight and bulk of the material and increase the cost of 
distribution. 

This is in brief the result of the fertilizer investigations by the 
department since submitting Senate Document No. 262, Sixty-fourth 
Congress, first session. 

Milton Whitney, 

Chief of Bureav.. 

February 15, 1921. 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 

Washington, D. C, December 10, 1920. 
In executing its duties under the Lever food-control law and the 
President's proclamation regarding fertilizers, a letter was addressed 



22 THE FERTILIZER SITUATIOIST. 

by this department on September 25 to all fertilizer manufacturers 
under license requesting them to submit informa-tion regarding their 
prices for mixed fertilizers for the spring season of 1921. This was 
shortly after the prices of raw fertilizer materials had begun to 
decline. At that time the estimated average purchase price of 
ammonia was around $5 per unit of 20 pounds, which was a dollar 
a unit less than for the fall of 1920; acid phosphate $1 a unit, which 
was the same as for the fall; and potash $2.25 per unit, which was 
50 cents a unit below the fall price. The prices of raw materials, 
together with manufacturing costs, allowances for shrinkage and 
for profits, form the basis upon which the fertilizer manufacturers 
establish selling prices. 

The prices quoted by the larger manufacturers for the spring of 
1921, according to statements submitted by him, were based upon a 
unit cost of ammonia of $5.25, phosphoric acid 80 cents, and potash 
$2.50. When these prices were received early in October, the fol- 
lowing communication was sent to some of the principal manufac- 
turers : 

With the break in general commodity price? there has been a recent break in the 
prices of many of the fertilizer materials. This price adjustment has not yet been 
accomplished. The indications are now that we are on a continually falling market 
with certain of the materials. * * * Therefore the department i? strongly of the 
opinion that prices fixed for the entire spring trade to July 1. 1921. on the basis of 
present values are not justified. Your prices for spring delivery should be lowered 
now to the fullest extent, having in mind the reductions which recently have taken 
place in many of the fertilizer materials, and also the probable future prices of these 
materials, and they should be still further lowered later if conditions in the fertilizer 
material market justify. 

In your letter you propose a price of $5.25 per unit for ammonia. The department 
feels that this is a very generous price for materials that you have already purchased. 
It believes that it is too high a price for the market to-day and too high a price for 
you to carry as a fixed price per unit for ammonia up to July 1, 1921. The department 
expects you to lower this price at the outset. 

The price you figure for potash — ^52. 50 per unit — ^is, it is believed, much above 
what is necessary for you to charge to secm'e your 15 per cent gross profit. The depart- 
ment will expect you to revise and lower this. 

The department has repeatedly urged the fertilizer trade, in 
determining their prices for the spring season of 1921, to recognize 
to the fullest extent the downward trend of prices of raw materials 
and to give their customers, the farmers of the United States, every 
possible price concession. Their attention has been called to their 
insistence during the war years upon the application of the ''replace- 
ment principle" in determining their price quotations during the pe- 
riod of rising prices and to their abandonment of this theory under 
changed conditions of a falling market. 

The larger manufacturers allege that, in order to provide their 
enormous tonnage, it is necessary for them to contract for a con- 
siderable part of their raw materials several months before their 
prices are set. At this particular time they claim to have purchased 
or contracted for a large part of the materials for the spring trade of 
1921 before the beginning of the break in prices of fertilizer materials. 
The smaller manufacturers, of whom there are around 750, make no 
such claim but, on the contrary, many of them have stated that they 
were unable to quote prices because they had not bought their 
materials and did not know what they would cost. 



THE FEETILIZEE SITUATION. 23 

As the figures submitted to the department by the larger manu- 
facturers themselves showed that the actual cost to them of the am- 
monia and potash already purchased, and the probable cost of the 
additional material they expected to purchase, was not above the 
average prices prevailing on September 25, above referred to, they, 
after conference with the department, decided to lower accordingly 
the unit cost of potash and of ammonia in determining the prices of 
their mixed fertilizers. In the meantime, however, the prices of 
raw materials have continued to decline, as forecasted in the depart- 
ment's letter, with the result that on November 15 the estimated 
average purchase price of ammonia was S4 a unit, representing a 
decline oi $1 a unit since September 25. Since November 15 tiiere 
have been further substantial reductions in the prices of raw materials. 

In connection with the negotiations, a further important situation 
has developed, namely, that the larger maufacturers, in determining 
the prices of their mixed fertilizers, have figured acid phosphate at a 
price which is 20 cents per unit lower than for the fall of 1920. The 
trade journals, on the other hand, show that the price of 68 per cent 
Florida pebble phosphate rock was quoted from $6.85 per ton in June 
and SI 1.50 per ton in September and that the basis has been changed 
from f. o. b. Tampa to f. o. b. mines, making an additional difference 
of about $1.20 per ton. They also show that the quoted price of bulk 
acid phosphate increased from $18.50 to $20 per ton. The Federal 
Trade Commission, in its report on tiie fertilizer industry, indicates 
that the large fertilizer manuf actui ers have practical control of the 
phosphate situation through the ownership of acid phosphate plants 
and of mines and factories and through the existence of long-time 
contracts at low prices with other than their own mines. 

The department has urged the mine owners, the larger fertilizer 
manufacturers, and the producers of acid phosphate to make some 
concession to the smaller manufacturers by lowering the price at 
which they can purchase rock and acid phosphate. Tiiey reply that, 
on account of the strike in the Florida pebble district in 1919 and the 
ear shortage, the stocks of rock and acid phosphate are so low that 
they have difficulty in obtaining sufficient quantities of these materials 
for their oAvn use. Apparently the greater part of the rock that is 
mined above the contract requirements of the larger concerns is held 
for export, and a domestic buyer without a long-time contract is 
compelled to pay $11 to $12 a ton as against $6 a ton, which is about 
the average for the domestic contract rock. 

The principal acid phosphate manufacturers stated that their price 
to contract purchasers was materially lower than the quotations in 
the trade journals for noncontract or cash purchasers. They stated 
that practically their entire production was sold under long-time 
contracts, that they had nothing to seU outside of these contracts, 
and that the quotations in the trade journals were based on resale 
lots where money was needed or storage capacities had been exceeded. 
It is evident, therefore, that the needs of the larger manufacturers 
are provided for, whereas the source of supply of the smaller manu- 
facturers is seriously curtailed and the prices which the smaller manu- 
facturers have to pay are greatly in excess of contract prices. Within 
the past two weeks, however, the acid phosphate price has declined 
from $20 a ton to $17 a ton on the basis of Baltimore quotations and 



24 THE FERTILIZER SITUATIOIS!'. 

the price will probably continue to decline, as the stocks on hand are 
in reality large. Information has reached the department that not 
only is the cost of material falling but that the cost of manufacture 
is also decreasing. 

The Lever Food Control Act does not authorize the fixing of prices 
of fertilizers, but manufacturers who exact an unjust or unreasonable 
profit will be subject to prosecution. Notwithstanding the fact that 
some of the raw materials used in the manufacture of fertilizer were 
purchar^ed at prices higher than those now prevailing, the depart- 
ment feels that, in vieM' of existing market conditions, the prices of 
mixed fertilizers quoted by manufacturers for the spring trade of 
1921 are too high. The consuming public is vitally concerned in this 
matter for the reason that the maintenance of high prices for ferti- 
lizers, at a time when the prices of farm products have greatly de- 
clined, may result in a curtailment of the use of fertilizers and a 
reduction in acreage and in yield per acre of crops planted. The 
opportunity is presented, as shown above, for a greater range in fer- 
tilizer prices for the spring season of 1921 than is u^ual under normal 
conditions. If the prices the manufacturers are now putting forth, 
which are based upon the unit costs of September 25, prevail during 
the entire season, it \nll be necessar}^ for the individual farmer who 
uses fertilizers to exercise unusual care in shaping his operations so 
as to avoid undue risk of financial loss in his effort to maintain normal 
production of essential crops. 



A BILL To regulate the sale and shipment of fertilizer in interstate and foreign commerce, to prevent 
the adulteration and misbranding thereof, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That this act shall be known and may be cited as "United States 
Fertilizer Act." 

Sec. 2. That as used in this act, unless the context otherwise requires: 

The term "person" means an individual, a partnership, a corporation, or two or 
more individuals having a joint or common interest; the term "commerce" means 
commerce among the several States or with foreign nations, or in any Territory or 
possession of the United States or in the District of Columbia, or between any such 
Territory or possession and another, or between any such Territory or possession and 
any State or foreign nation, or between the District of Columbia and any State, Ter- 
ritory, possession, or foreign nation; the term "fertilizer" means any substance, in- 
cluding any combination or mixture, designed and fit for use in inducing increased 
crop yields when apphed to the soil, but shall not include animal manure in its natural 
or unmanipulated state; the terms " available nitrogen," "available phosphoric acid," 
and "available potash" mean nitrogen, phosphoric acid (P2O5), or potash (KjO), as 
the case may be, which is readily available for plant assimilation, as determined by a 
method or methods prescribed or approved for the purpose in the regulations unSer 
this act; and the term "marked" means marked, tagged, branded, or labeled. 

When construing and enforcing the provision of this act ora ny regulation theu- 
under the act, omission, or failure of any person acting for or employed by any other 
person within the scope of his employment or ofhce shall in every case be deemed 
the act, omission, or failure of such other person as well as of the person acting for or 
employed by liim. 

Sec. 3. That the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to establish standard? for 
grades of fertilizer by which its quality and /or condition may be determined, which 
shall be known as the official fertilizer' standards of the United States, and to change 
or modify such standards in such manner as he may find necessan,' for the purposes 
of this act. Public notice of the establishment of such standards' or any change or 
modification thereof shall be given by the Secretary of Agriculture by such means as 
he shall find appropriate at least sixty days before the date when the same shall be- 
come effective. 



THE FERTILIZEE SITUATIOoS^, 25 

Sec. 4. That it shall be unlawful for any person to sell in commerce, or to ship or 
deliver for shipment in commerce for sale or pursuant to a sale, any fertilizer in a con- 
tainer, other than in a loose lot in the vehicle of transportation, unless such container 
be plainly and conspicuously marked in the manner prescribed in the regulations 
under this act so as to show Avith respect to such fertilizer (a) the name and address 
of the person who manufactm-ed or prepared the fertilizer if it be manufactured or pre- 
pared in the United States, and of the importer if it be imported; ())) the net weight 
in pounds: (c^ the per centum by weight, if any of available nitrogen, available phos- 
phoric acid i'P205), and available potash (KjO); (d) the name of each ingi'edient car- 
rying available nitrogen, available phosphoric acid, or available potash, and the 
proportion of each such ingi-edient if more than one be included; (e) the per centum by 
weight and the kind of each ingredient having fertilizer value other than ingi-edients 
containing available nitrogen, available phosphoric acid, and available potash; (f) the 
grade of the fertilizer, in accordance with the official fertilizer standards of the United 
States, if such standards shall have become effective therefor under this act; and (g) 
such other facts as the Secretary of Agricultm'e may find to be necessary and prescribe 
in the regulations under this act in order accurately to inform the consumer of the 
nature and condition of the fertilizer and to prevent fraud or deception mth reference 
thereto. 

Sec. 5. That it shall be unlawful for any person to sell in commerce, or to ship or 
deliver for shipment in commerce for sale or pursuant to a sale, any fertilizer in a loose 
lot in the vehicle of transportation, unless on or before the date of such sale, shipment, 
or delivery for shipment there be furnished or transmitted to the receiver of the 
fertilizer a written statement or an invoice or other shipping document which shall 
state the facts required to be marked on the container by section 4 of this act. 

Sec. 6. That the Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe reasonable variations as 
to the extent to which the statements of net weight of any fertilizer or ingredient 
thereof, the percentages of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, and the percentages 
and proportions of other ingredients, for the purposes of section 4 and 5 of this act, 
may differ from the actual net weight, percentages, or proportions of the same, as the 
case may be. Such statements, if within the limits of the variations so prescribed, 
shall not be deemed to be in violation of this act. 

Sec. 7. That any fertilizer or substance designed or intended for use as a fertilizer 
which is sold, shipped, or delivered for shipment in commerce shall be misbranded 
within the meaning of this act if there be on the container thereof, or an any tag or 
label attached thereto, or on any invoice, bill of lading, or other shipping document 
relating to such sale, shipment, or delivery for shipment, any statement, design, pr 
device with respect to such fertilizer or substance, including its nature and effect, 
which is false or misleading in any particular. 

Sec. 8. That any fertilizer or substance designed or intended for use as a fertilizer 
shall be adulterated within the meaning of this act if it contains any material which 
may render such fertilizer or substance injurious to plant growth when applied to the 
soil in any manner and amount common to good farm practice, as prescribed bj'' the 
regulations under this act. 

Sec. 9. That, when necessary for the purpose of this act, auy officer, employee, or 
agent of the Secretary of Agriculture, authorized by him in writing for the purpose, 
may at any time during the usual hours of business enter any factory, plant, estab- 
lishment, or other place from which any fertilizer or substance designed or intended 
for use as a fertilizer is sold, shipped, or delivered for shipment in commerce, and may 
inspect the contents and operation thereof, and any books, papers, letters, or other 
documents relating thereto; and it is hereby made a condition to the sale, shipment, 
or delivery for shipment in conunerce of any such fertilizer or substance from any 
such factory, plant, establishment or other place, that such inspection be permitted 
by the owner or operator thereof. 

Sec. 10. That it shall be the duty of any person, when requested by an officer or 
agent of the Government designated in accordance with the regulations prescribed 
under this act, to answer orally or in wi'iting, correctly to the best of his knowledge,' 
under oath or otherwise as may be required, all questions touching his knowledge of 
any matter, information upon which is necessary to the efficient administration of 
this act, or to produce any books, letters, papers, or documents in his possession or 
under his control relating to such matter. It shall be unlawful for any person -will- 
fully (a) to fail or refuse within a reasonable time prescribed by the officer or agent 
makilig the request to answer such questions or to produce such books, letters, papers, 
or documents, or (b) to give in response to any such question any answer that is false 
or misleading. Any information secured under this act except secret processes or 
formulas shall be available for the use of either House of Congi-ess at its request, and 



26 THE FERTILIZER SITUATIOIs"^. 

the Secretary of Agriculture may cause such information to be published from time 
to time. 

Sec. 11. That, in order to carry out the provisions of tliis act and to proAdde infor- 
mation for the Congress, every person engaged in the business of selling or shipping in 
commerce any fertilizer or sulsstance designed or intended for use as a fertilizer shall 
keep such records and accounts and make such reports verified under oath or otlier- 
wise as will fully and correctly disclose all transactions involved in his business, in 
such form and at such times as may be required under regulations made pursuant to 
this act. It shall be unlawful for an}^ such person willfully (a) to fail or refuse to make 
full and true entries or make any false entry in the accounts or records of his business, 
(b) to alter, mutilate, conceal, or destroy any such account or record, or (c) to make 
any false or fraudulant report concerning his business. 

Sec. 12. That it shall be unlawful for any person engaged in the business of manu- 
facturing, preparing, selling, or otherwise distributing any fertilizer or substance 
designed or intended for use as a fertilizer to deposit with the Post Office establish- 
ment for transmission in the mails of the United States any advertisement or any 
other Written or printed statement with respect to such fertilizer or substance, includ- 
ing its nature and effect, that is false or misleading in any particular. 

Sec. 13 . That no person shall willfully hinder, obstruct, or resist any duly authorized 
officer, employee, or agent of the Secretary of Agriculture in the performance of his 
duties under this act. 

Sec. 14. That any person who violates sections 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, or 18 of this act, 
or who sells, ships, or deli^-ers for shipment in commerce any fertilizer or substance 
designed or intended for use as a fertilizer which is misbranded or adulterated witliin 
the meaning of this act, or who sells, ships, or delivers for shipment in commerce any 
fertilizer or substance designed or intended for use as a fertilizer from any factory, 
plant, establishment, or otlier place for which lawful inspection, pursuant to section 
9 of this act, is refused by the owner or operator tliereof shall, upon conviction thereof, 
be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 
one year, or both. 

Sec. 15. That no person shall be prosecuted for the sale, shipment, or delivery for 
shipment in commerce of any fertilizer which does not comply with the requirements 
of section 4 or 5 of this act or of any fertilizer or substance designed or intended for use 
as a fertilizer which is misbranded or adulterated within the meaning of this act, when 
he can estaljlish a guaranty signed by the wholesaler, jobber, manufacturer, or other 
person, residing in the United States, from whom he purchased such fertilizer or 
substance to the effect that it complies with the requirements of section 4 or 5, or is 
not misbranded or adulterated within the meaning of this act, as the case may be. 
Said guaranty to afford protection shall state that it is made under this act, and shall 
contain the name and address of the person required to sign it, and such person shall be 
amenable to the prosecutions, fines, and other penalties which would otherwise attach 
under this act to the person to whom he sold such article. 

Sec. 16. That any fertilizer which does not comply with the requirements of section 
4 or 5 of this act, or any fertilizer or substance designed or intended for use as a fertilizer 
which is misbranded or adulterated within the meaning of this act, and which is in 
commerce, or having been transported in commerce is, whether sold or unsold, in the 
custody, control, or possession of any distributor, dealer, or manufacturer, shall be 
liable to be proceeded against in any district court of the United States within the 
district where the same is found, and seized for confiscation by a process of libel for 
condemnation. If such fertilizer or substance is condemned as not complying with 
section 4 or 5 or as being misbranded or adulterated within the meaning of this act, it 
shall be disposed of by destruction or sale, as the said court may direct, and the pro- 
ceeds thereof, if sold, less the legal costs and charges, shall be paid into the Treasury 
of the United States, but such fertilizer or substance shall not ]ye sold inaxiy jurisdictioa 
contrary to the provisions of this act or the laws of that jurisdiction: Provided, That 
upon the payment of the costs of such libel proceedings and the execution and delivery 
of a good and sufficient bond to the effect that such fertilizer or substance shall not be 
sold or otherwise disposed of contrary to the provisions of this act, or the laws of any 
State, Territory, District, or possession, the court may by order direct that such 
fertilizer or substance be delivered to the owner thereof. The proceedings in such 
libel case shall conform, as near as may be, to the proceedings in admiralty, exoe^ 
that either party may demand trial by jury of any issue of fact joined in any such ease, 
and all such proceedings shall be at the suit and m the name of the United States. 

Sec. 17. That the Secretary of Agriculture, through his authorized officei's, employ- 
ees, or agents, may, whenever appropriate to the enforcement of this act, collect 
and receive samples, and cause examisaation, inspection, analyses, or tests to be 
made of any fertilizer or substance designed or intended for use as a fertilizer. If 



THE FERTILIZER SITUATION. 27 

it should appear from any such examination, inspection, analysis, or test, or from 
any investigation made under this act, that there haa been a violation of any of its 
provisions, the Secretary of Agriculture shall cause notice thereof to be given to the 
person who is apparently guilty of such violation. Any person so notified shall be 
given an opportunity to be heard in such matter and introduce testimony in his 
behalf under such regulations as may be prescribed under this act, and if it then 
appear that any of the provisions of this act has been violated by such person the 
Secretary of Agriculture may report the facts to the proper United States attorney 
who shall, without delay, cause appropriate proceedings in such case to be com- 
menced and prosecuted under this act in the courts of the United States. After 
judgment of the court in any such case the Secretary of Agriculture shall give notice 
thereof by publication in such manner as he may pro^^-de in the regulations hereunder. 

Sec. 18. That the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized co designate in writing 
specifically officers, employees, and agents of the Department of Agricultm-e to 
administer oaths for the purposes of this act. The courts of the United States shall 
take judicial notice of all such designations. All such officers, employees, and agents 
are authorized and empowered to administer to or take from any person an oath, 
affirmation, or affidavit, for the purpose of this act or for use in any prosecution or 
proceeding thereunder. Any such oath, afiBi-mation, or affidavit, authenticated by 
the official seal of the Department of Agriculture shall when offered for use in any 
court of the United States, have like force and effect as if administered or taken by or 
before the clerk of such court, without fiu:ther proof of the identity or authority of 
such officer, employee, or agent. No such officer, emj)loyee, or agent shall demand 
or accept any fee or compensation whatsoever for administering or taking any oath, 
aflfirmation, or affida\it under the authority conferred by this act. 

Sec. 19. That for the enforcement of this' act the Secretary of Agriculture is author- 
ized (a) to prescribe and promulgate such regulations as may be necessary, (b) to 
cooperate with any department or agency of the Goverrmient, with any State, Terri- 
tory, District, or possession, or any department, agency, or political division thereof, 
or with any person, and (c) to employ such persons and make such expenditures for 
rent, printing, telegrams, telephones, law books, books of reference, periodicals, fur- 
niture, stationery, office equipment, traveling expenses, and other supplies and ex- 
penses, as may be necessary in the District of Columbia and elsewhere. 

Sec. 20. That the sum of $200,000 is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, available immediately and until expended, for 
the enforcement of this act. 

Sec. 21. That the several sections or provisions of this act are hereby declared to 
be severable, and, if any section or provisions shall be held by any court to be un- 
constitutional, it is the intent that the remainder would have been enacted -without 
regard to such unconstitutional provision. 

Sec. 22. All fertilizers or substances designed or intended for use as a fertilizer, 
transported into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, for sale, or remaining 
therein for use, appHcation to the soil, sale, or storage therein, shall be subject to the 
operation and effect of the laws of such State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, 
enacted in the exercise of its police powers, to the same extent and in the same manner 
as though such fertihzers or substances designed or intended for use as a fertilizer had 
been produced in such State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, and shall not be 
exempt therefrom by reason of being introduced therein in original packages or other- 
wise: Provided, That such laws are not in conflict with any of the provisions of this act 
or the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture hereunder. 

Sec. 23. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the passage, 
but no penalty, fine, imprisonment, or confiscation shall be enforced for any violation 
of section 4 or 5, or for the sale, shipment, or delivery for shipment iii commerce of any 
fertilizer or substance designed or intended for use as a fertilizer which is misbranded 
or adulterated within the meaning of this act, prior to 12 months after passage. 

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